


a plan in motion

by platonics



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Manipulation, Pre-Canon, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), Pre-Game Shirogane Tsumugi, Scheming, Sneaking Around, kiibo getting his name, tsumugi being tsumugi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:20:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25985005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/platonics/pseuds/platonics
Summary: "There's never been a character quite like you, you know? Sure, there's been people with cybernetic implants, that sort of thing, but not a full-on robot. You're special."Tsumugi makes a discovery when wandering Danganronpa Headquarters at night.
Relationships: K1-B0 & Shirogane Tsumugi
Kudos: 13





	a plan in motion

From time to time, Tsumugi found herself wandering at work. There was plenty of time for it, usually. As an intern, people weren't terribly concerned with where she was or what she was doing. She'd be sent to fetch someone's coffee or deliver something to another department, make a few phone calls. She was disposable, nameless. One of many young students trying to get a foot in the door at Team Danganronpa. Someday she was sure she'd be more valuable, right at the very top, but for now, she could wander sometimes.

Sometimes she wandered all the way down to the robotics labs in the basement. It was a long way from the cluttered writers' department up on the third floor, but she liked it down there. The basement was so quiet, especially late in the evening, after most of the scientists working down there had gone home for the night. The whirring of machines set a different mood than the frantic clatter of typing and shuffle of papers. It was a busy time of year up there, close to auditions, but the tech development, from what Tsumugi could tell, didn't have the same kinds of annual ebbs and flows.

As she paced the halls one night, she noticed the door to one of the labs was ajar. Light leaked out into the shadowy hallway, and yet when she peered inside, there was nobody there. The monitors of the computers had gone dark, tables scattered with papers and bits of machinery. She didn't have the necessary experience to know what most of it was, conglomerations of metal and wires that might be in the process of becoming something. Presumably whoever worked in this organized chaos simply neglected to fully close the door when leaving.

Could simple absentmindedness account for the light being left on too? Curious, Tsumugi pushed the door open the rest of the way, stepping inside. She'd never gotten such an up close and personal look at this side of the show's development before — how could she resist such an opportunity? Knowing more about all things Danganronpa could only benefit her.

Pondering those thoughts, she slipped deeper and deeper into her own mind. Her fingertips trailing along tabletops as she ambled about the room, daydreaming about some future day when all of this would be hers. Everyone on this massive team under her leadership, her direction. 

Shirogane Tsumugi would be a household name, perhaps even on par with the original creator. Sure, she wasn't the one to first think up the killing game, nor was she the one to pioneer the transition to Ultimate Real Fiction, but she could be someone just as valuable. Freshening up the franchise and bringing it to even greater heights, over 50 years after it started.

"Maybe I'll even get a chance to play Enoshima Junko along the way!" She didn't even realize she said that part out loud until she got a response.

"Um, excuse me, are you...talking to me?" The voice was unsteady, noticeably inhuman, and seemingly out of nowhere. Tsumugi visibly flinched, looking around in search of what could have made such a noise. 

"I'm over here," the voice added helpfully, and it was only when the screen lit up that she realized it was the laptop in the corner. That was a relief, but only slightly. Knowing the source didn't do anything to explain _why_ a laptop was suddenly talking to her. Not only that, but...had it been watching her this whole time?

"Who are you?" Nervously adjusting her glasses, she walked over to it, taking a seat in the desk chair. Unlike the much more cluttered desk at the other end of the room, this one had nothing on the surface but the laptop itself and a few pages of messy, handwritten notes. Like it was purposefully being kept clear for something.

"I don't have a name yet," the voice replied. "But I know I'm a prototype AI for an Ultimate Robot character." An Ultimate Robot...? She was _definitely_ not supposed to be here. She hadn't heard about anything like this being in development, not even rumors.

"Seriously? You're really going to be on Danganronpa?"

"That's what I've been told. I don't know any of the details. My creator's been training me, guiding me to learn more and more. Once my body's complete, I'll be transferred into it. Then, more intensive training can begin for the role I'm meant to play." Clearly not for next season then, maybe one or two after that. It was a similar timeline to her own goals. Already, a plan was beginning to form in her mind.

"I see...Well, if you don't have a name, what would you like me to call you?" She leaned closer, gazing ahead at the screen despite the lack of any kind of face to make eye contact with. It just seemed polite. Tsumugi didn't know how developed this AI's emotions were, but it seemed best to err on the side of caution and treat him as a real person.

"What you should call me...?" There was a pause in which she could almost imagine him shrugging. "I can't say I have much of a preference. I'm not too familiar with human naming customs yet. Ah, but what's yours?"

"Shirogane," she said. "Shirogane Tsumugi. You can't talk to your creator about me though, okay? Or anyone else, for that matter. I'm...not really supposed to be in here." The laptop whirred softly.

"What do you mean, Shirogane-san? You're an intruder?"

"No, no!" She pulled out her Team Danganronpa ID card, holding it up in front of the webcam. "See? I work here. Just...not in this department. I have a feeling you're supposed to be a pretty tightly guarded secret. There's never been a character quite like you, you know? Sure, there's been people with cybernetic implants, that sort of thing, but not a full-on robot. You're special."

"I'm not sure I want to be special. If I'm supposed to be such an impressive AI, wouldn't it be more desirable for me to be treated like everyone else? If attention is drawn to the fact that I'm not human, it must mean I'm not performing as well as I should." He let out a little whine, and Tsumugi had absolutely no idea what to say to reassure him. As her gaze landed on the notes talking about a robotic participant inspiring hope in the other students, she decided a subject change might be best.

"What about Kiibo? For your name?"

"Kiibo?" He already seemed to have perked up some. She smiled, still looking over at the notes out the corner of her eye. "Like hope?"

"Yeah, exactly. You don't have to use it if you don't like it, of course! It was just a thought."

"No, I like it. Thank you, Shirogane-san. I'm glad you see me as human enough to give me a name. Um, do you think...could you visit me here again?"

He seemed sweet; she could already tell. A little naive and withdrawn for now, but with another year or two of development and interaction, that could easily be adjusted. He'd be perfect for the season she fantasized about. A robot traitor, aiding the mastermind without even knowing it. The despair would be just exquisite. The more of a bond she established now, the more likely it was that she'd be allowed to use him once she rose up in the ranks.

"Of course, Kiibo. We're friends."


End file.
